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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

A Nanometer Aerosol Size Analyzer (nASA) for Rapid Measurement of High-Concentration Size Distributions

We have developed a fast-response Nanometer Aerosol Size Analyzer (nASA) that is capable of scanning 30 size channels between 3 and 100 nm in a total time of 3 seconds. The analyzer includes a bipolar charger (P0210), an extended-length Nanometer Differential Mobility Analyzer (Nano-DMA), and an electrometer (TSI 3068). This combination of components provides particle size spectra at a scan rate of 0.1 second per channel free of uncertainties caused by response-time-induced smearing. The nASA thus offers a fast response for aerosol size distribution measurements in high-concentration conditions and also eliminates the need for applying a de-smearing algorithm to resulting data. In addition, because of its thermodynamically stable means of particle detection, the nASA is useful for applications requiring measurements over a broad range of sample pressures and temperatures. Indeed, experimental transfer functions determined for the extended-length Nano-DMA using the Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (TDMA) technique indicate the nASA provides good size resolution at pressures as low as 200 Torr. Also, as was demonstrated in tests to characterize the soot emissions from the J85-GE engine of a T38 aircraft, the broad dynamic concentration range of the nASA makes it particularly suitable for studies of combustion or particle formation processes. Further details of the nASA performance as well as results from calibrations, laboratory tests and field applications are presented.

Han, Hee-Siew↗
DOE OSTI2025

CdSe Magic-Size Clusters Deviate from Nanocrystal-Size Scalings for Ultrafast Intraband Relaxation and Auger Recombination

The cluster regime of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) occupies an interesting space on the continuum from molecule to bulk material and allow the study of QD properties at extreme quantum confinement limits. For typical QDs, several size-dependent property trends are well established including intraband relaxation rates and universal scaling of Auger recombination with particle volume. Advances in synthesis now allow isolation of atomically precise semiconductor magic-size clusters (MCs), which offer experimental insight regarding how electronic structure changes with particle size in the ultrasmall limit. Here, we report intraband cooling and Auger recombination for several stable CdSe MCs as a function of particle size and observe deviation from QD response in the cluster regime. We additionally show optical signatures ascribed to transient disordering 2 that appear in the single exciton regime for MCs, which point to complexities regarding their implementation.

Auger recombination↗
DOE OSTI2018

Male body size predicts reproductive success but not within-clutch paternity patterns in gopher tortoises ( Gopherus polyphemus )

In many vertebrates, body size is an important driver of variation in male reproductive success. Larger, more fit individuals are more likely to dominate mating opportunities, skewing siring success and resulting in lower effective population sizes and genetic diversity. The mating system of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) has been characterized as both female defense and scramble-competition polygyny. Mating systems are typically not fixed and can be influenced by factors such as population density, demographic structure, and environmental conditions;, however, most populations will have a predominant strategy that results from local conditions. We assessed how male body size influences patterns of paternity and reproductive success in a natural population of gopher tortoises in Florida, USA. Using microsatellites, we assigned parentage of 220 hatchlings from 31 nests collected during two reproductive seasons. Larger males were significantly more likely to sire offspring and sired more offspring than smaller males; however, the likelihood of a clutch being multiply-sired was unrelated to male body size. We also found evidence of mate fidelity across years. Although paternity patterns in this high-density population are more consistent with defense polygyny, female monopoly by males was incomplete, with both large and small males contributing to multiply-sired clutches. Additional behavioral data are needed to clarify the role of female mate selection in paternity outcomes. The context-dependence of mating systems underscores the need to compare parentage patterns across populations and to recognize the potential for more than one strategy to be employed within a single population.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Technical Letter Report Development of Flaw Size Distribution Tables Including Effects of Flaw Depth Sizing Errors for Draft 10CFR 50.61a (Alternate PTS Rule) JCN-N6398, Task 4

This document describes a new method to determine whether the flaws in a particular reactor pressure vessel are consistent with the assumptions regarding the number and sizes of flaws used in the analyses that formed the technical justification basis for the new voluntary alternative Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) rule (Draft 10 CFR 50.61a). The new methodology addresses concerns regarding prior methodology because ASME Code Section XI examinations do not detect all fabrication flaws, they have higher detection performance for some flaw types, and there are flaw sizing errors always present (e.g., significant oversizing of small flaws and systematic under sizing of larger flaws). The new methodology allows direct comparison of ASME Code Section XI examination results with values in the PTS draft rule Tables 2 and 3 in order to determine if the number and sizes of flaws detected by an ASME Code Section XI examination are consistent with those assumed in the probabilistic fracture mechanics calculations performed in support of the development of 10 CFR 50.61a.

Fabrication Flaws Density and Distribution in RPVs↗
DOE OSTI2016

Size Matters: Assessing Optimum Soil Sample Size for Fungal and Bacterial Community Structure Analyses Using High Throughput Sequencing of rRNA Gene Amplicons

We examined the effect of different soil sample sizes obtained from an agricultural field, under a single cropping system uniform in soil properties and aboveground crop responses, on bacterial and fungal community structure and microbial diversity indices. DNA extracted from soil sample sizes of 0.25, 1, 5, and 10 g using MoBIO kits and from 10 and 100 g sizes using a bead-beating method (SARDI) were used as templates for high-throughput sequencing of 16S and 28S rRNA gene amplicons for bacteria and fungi, respectively, on the Illumina MiSeq and Roche 454 platforms. Sample size significantly affected overall bacterial and fungal community structure, replicate dispersion and the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) retrieved. Richness, evenness and diversity were also significantly affected. The largest diversity estimates were always associated with the 10 g MoBIO extractions with a corresponding reduction in replicate dispersion. For the fungal data, smaller MoBIO extractions identified more unclassified Eukaryota incertae sedis and unclassified glomeromycota while the SARDI method retrieved more abundant OTUs containing unclassified Pleosporales and the fungal genera Alternaria and Cercophora. Overall, these findings indicate that a 10 g soil DNA extraction is most suitable for both soil bacterial and fungal communities for retrieving optimal diversity while still capturing rarer taxa in concert with decreasing replicate variation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fracture size and transmissivity correlations: Implications for transport simulations in sparse three-dimensional discrete fracture networks following a truncated power law distribution of fracture size

We characterize how different fracture size-transmissivity relationships influence flow and transport simulations through sparse three-dimensional discrete fracture networks. Although it is generally accepted that there is a positive correlation between a fracture's size and its transmissivity/aperture, the functional form of that relationship remains a matter of debate. Relationships that assume perfect correlation, semicorrelation, and noncorrelation between the two have been proposed. To study the impact that adopting one of these relationships has on transport properties, we generate multiple sparse fracture networks composed of circular fractures whose radii follow a truncated power law distribution. The distribution of transmissivities are selected so that the mean transmissivity of the fracture networks are the same and the distributions of aperture and transmissivity in models that include a stochastic term are also the same. We observe that adopting a correlation between a fracture size and its transmissivity leads to earlier breakthrough times and higher effective permeability when compared to networks where no correlation is used. While fracture network geometry plays the principal role in determining where transport occurs within the network, the relationship between size and transmissivity controls the flow speed. Lastly, these observations indicate DFN modelers should be aware that breakthrough times and effective permeabilities can be strongly influenced by such a relationship in addition to fracture and network statistics.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Growth Kinetics and Size Distribution Dynamics of Viscous Secondary Organic Aerosol

Low bulk diffusivity inside viscous semisolid atmospheric secondary organic aerosol (SOA) can prolong equilibration time scale, but its broader impacts on aerosol growth and size distribution dynamics are poorly understood. In this article, we present quantitative insights into the effects of bulk diffusivity on the growth and evaporation kinetics of SOA formed under dry conditions from photooxidation of isoprene in the presence of a bimodal aerosol consisting of Aitken (ammonium sulfate) and accumulation (isoprene or α-pinene SOA) mode particles. Aerosol composition measurements and evaporation kinetics indicate that isoprene SOA is composed of several semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), with some reversibly reacting to form oligomers. Model analysis shows that liquid-like bulk diffusivities can be used to fit the observed evaporation kinetics of accumulation mode particles but fail to explain the growth kinetics of bimodal aerosol by significantly under-predicting the evolution of the Aitken mode. In contrast, the semisolid scenario successfully reproduces both evaporation and growth kinetics, with the interpretation that hindered partitioning of SVOCs into large viscous particles effectively promotes the growth of smaller particles that have shorter diffusion time scales. This effect has important implications for the growth of atmospheric ultrafine particles to climatically active sizes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Inherent size effects on XANES of nanometer metal clusters: Size-selected platinum clusters on silica

X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) is commonly used to probe the oxidation state of metal-containing nanomaterials, however, as the particle size in the material drops below a few nanometers, it becomes important to consider inherent size effects on the electronic structure of the materials. In this paper, we analyze a series of size-selected Pt n /SiO 2 samples, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low energy ion scattering, grazing-incidence small angle X-ray scattering, and XANES. The oxidation state and morphology are characterized both as-deposited in UHV, and after air/O 2 exposure and annealing in H 2 . Here, the clusters are found to be stable during deposition and upon air exposure, but sinter if heated above ~150 °C. XANES shows shifts in the Pt L 3 edge, relative to bulk Pt, that increase with decreasing cluster size, and the cluster samples show high white line intensity. Reference to bulk standards would suggest that the clusters are oxidized, however, XPS shows that they are not. Instead, the XANES effects are attributable to development of a band gap and localization of empty state wavefunctions in small clusters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Temperature, pressure, and size dependence of Pd-H interaction in size selected Pd-Ag and Pd-Cu alloy nanoparticles: In-situ X-ray diffraction studies

In this study, in-situ X-ray diffraction has been carried out to investigate the effect of temperature and pressure on hydrogen induced lattice parameter variation in size selected Pd-Ag and Pd-Cu alloy nanoparticles. The nanoparticles of three different mobility equivalent diameters (20, 40, and 60 nm) having a narrow size distribution were prepared by gas phase synthesis method. In the present range of temperature (350 K to 250 K) and pressure (10{sup −4} to 100 millibars), no α (H/Pd ≤ 0.03) ↔ β (H/Pd ≥ 0.54) phase transition is observed. At temperature higher than 300 °C or pressure lower than 25 millibars, there is a large difference in the rate at which lattice constant varies as a function of pressure and temperature. Further, the lattice variation with temperature and pressure is also observed to depend upon the nanoparticle size. At lower temperature or higher pressure, size of the nanoparticle seems to be relatively less important. These results are explained on the basis of the relative dominance of physical absorption and diffusion of H in Pd alloy nanoparticles at different temperature and pressure. In the present study, absence of α ↔ β phase transition points towards the advantage of using Pd-alloy nanoparticles in applications requiring long term and repeated hydrogen cycling.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗